Carbon Sequestration, Climate Change, and CO2

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Balancing Energy and the Environment

There is concern that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activity (anthropogenic GHGs) are
having an effect on the global climate. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the principal anthropogenic
GHG. The amount of carbon from anthropogenic CO2 entering in the atmosphere has grown
from a few million tons per year in 1850 to over 9 billion tons per year today.1 Anthropogenic CO2 emissions
will double over the next half century if countries like China and India continue to develop
in a business-as-usual way.

Should stabilization of CO2 and other GHGs in the atmosphere be deemed necessary, there
would need to be a reduction in the amount of CO2 and other GHGs that are
released by human activity. Reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions with the goal of
stabilizing the level of CO2 in the atmosphere is called CO2 management.

CO2 emissions can be reduced by energy
conservation, the use of more efficient fossil fuel energy systems, increased use of renewable
and nuclear energy, and carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration, the capture and long-term
storage of CO2 from the atmosphere or from anthropogenic CO2 sources, is
emerging as a major strategy for addressing climate change concerns.

It will be a major challenge to reduce anthropogenic CO2 output while maintaining a
strong economy. Experts agree that all options, from energy conservation to CO2
sequestration, will be needed over the long term to reduce anthropogenic CO2
emissions and the risk of climate change.2 CO2 sequestration will be an
important part of this effort.2